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HAPPY NEW YEAR! *throws confetti* - Memorize Your Lines and Try Not To Bump Into the Furniture.

And never let them cough.

Life's like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters. ~Seneca

“For an actress to be a success, she must have the face of Venus, the brains of Minerva, the grace of Terpsichore, the memory of Macaulay, the figure of Juno, and the hide of a rhinoceros.” ~Ethel BarrymoreI'm Carrie Leigh... a wife, mother, actress, teacher, writer, daughter, sister, aunt and friend. I love cooking, reading, baking, Jesus, sewing, theatre, blueberries, and watching complete seasons of television shows on DVD. Not necessarily in that order.

On the interest of starting the new year off with a kick, I give you a cooking blog post!

I came home earlier in the week to find that my quirky, lovable husband had printed out a recipe and placed it on the bar for me. A plain piece of printer paper with the title Irish Beef Stew, and a note in his neat handwriting, "New New Year's Tradition."

Nolan. Subtle, he ain't.

So, away we go! Pictures under the cut!

The cast of characters. (Minus the clementines behind the potatoes) Look at that big freaking blue bowl of raw meat. *shudders* Raw meat makes me kinda oogie, and for an extra oog factor, I used ELK meat, from an actual elk that good old hubs took out before he'd corrupted the other elk with his horrible ways. Nolan assures me that he only shoots the wildlife that cheat on their wives and smoke behind the buildings, wear leather jackets, talk back to their mothers, etc.

First, I chop everything. I have several different kinds of potatoes here, not because I'm trying to be exotic, but because that's what I had. And I'm an equal opportunity potato eater, I don't care what color they are. YAY, starch!

In th back ground, you'll note Aiden the sexy laptop; mynuet and I are writing a backup fic for the dgficexchange and we're almost done! Woo hoo!

Leftover carrots. It's stew. It's carrots. Who's gonna care?

Aaron, that's who. "Mom? Why are there two different kinds of carrots in this soup?"

Stinking kid.

Garlic. Yeah, baby. Onions.

Look at my mad choppin' skillz. I ROCK OUT LOUD.

Brown the meat. Try not to oog out.

Meat's brown. Somehow less oogie.

Add the garlic. I LOVE the way this smells.

Add the beef stock. Ignore the ghostly white hand pouring it in.

Add the Guinness. As best I can tell, it sweetens it, because the alcohol cooks off.

The wine does the same thing. The wine in my glass beside me, has acheived its goal, though! Woot! Happy New Year! (Shut up, I'm celebrating.)

Add the tomato paste. I used the whole little jar. Yeah, throw that bad boy in!

Saute the other veggies in butter. BUTTER. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. there goes my New Year's resolutions. *waves at them as they go by*

All sauteed.

My artsy camera shot of the chopped parsely.

Add the sauteed veggies to the stew meat.

It says to garnish with parsley, but we're not a garnish-y kind of people. I threw it in. But heck, I'm on my second glass of wine after having nothing but pancakes earlier this morning. My judgment might be a smidge off.

I'm about to serve this with cornbread and iced tea, and I'm sending New Year's love to the f-list.

2 While the meat and stock is simmering, melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and carrots. Sauté vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the beef stew in step one has simmered for one hour.

3 Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat. Transfer stew to serving bowl. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Salt and pepper to taste. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.)

Nolan assures me that he only shoots the wildlife that cheat on their wives and smoke behind the buildings, wear leather jackets, talk back to their mothers, etc.

This right there is why I love your husband. (shhhhh don't tell jay I said that)

And I LOVE that Aiden is on the counter by the potatoes. Aiden sorta sounds like an Irish Stew eater! *nods firmly* (and yeah - I know two women who are going to get a freaking awesome banner or something from that cowish mod at the exchange because they rock so hard)

Favourite picture? It was a close one with the oogie raw Elk - but I like your artsy parsley and think that it's fun to say artsyparsley too. *coughs* No, no I haven't been drinking your wine, why do you ask?